Hugh’s chances

Here are some photos of Hugh Jackman on set in Atlanta—seriously, Hollywood East, or wait, no, Hollywood Peach—filming The Front Runner, in which he plays Gary Hart, the one-time presidential hopeful who withdrew from the 1988 race when he was busted for having an affair. Yes, it’s true, once upon a time politicians would quit running for office when they were deemed to have a moral failing. Gary Hart was shamed out of high office for cheating on his wife—today, he would be president. Actually, this is a good idea. Could he be president? Can anyone? Can we put a cactus in the Oval Office and call it a day?

Anyway, Hugh’s at work on what could be an award contender in 2018. He still has The Greatest Showman coming out later this year, but Gary Oldman is already the clear favorite for Best Actor. (Although everyone’s leaving room for Daniel Day-Lewis, who has a film out this year, and it could be his last film performance.) The Best Actor race is competitive this year, and while I don’t want to count out Jackman’s charm offensive, I don’t think Showman will stand up to scrutiny, and then he has to go head-to-head with not only Oldman and DDL, but also Tom Hanks (The Post), Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.), Call Me By Your Name breakout Timothee Chalamet, and Jake Gyllenhaal. And we haven’t even gotten to sleepers like Sam Rockwell, James Franco, and Andrew Garfield. It’s a tough field. And PT Barnum doesn’t deserve to be wreathed in gold, anyway. (Check out The Dollop’s Barnum episode to learn why.) Better luck next year, Hugh.